Play from Berlin-based Serbian playwright Iva Brdar runs from Feb. 23 to March 4.

The Cherry Arts continues its 2017-18 season with the world premiere “Rule of Thumb,” a new play from Berlin-based Serbian playwright Iva Brdar, running from Feb. 23 to March 4.

The play continues the Cherry’s mission to bring international theatrical voices to the English-speaking world. It tells the story of two young Swedish women, Ana and Monika, who enter a hitchhiking competition and encounter a series of memorable characters during their race to get to the borderlands of Serbia and Bulgaria. Along the way, it explores economic and refugee migration as well as themes of class and cultural divisions.

Brdar, who’s currently attending graduate school in Berlin, said the play was inspired by a true event while she was still living in Serbia.

“I was on a weekend trip with my boyfriend, and we saw some hitchhikers and gave them a lift to Belgrade, and that’s how I learned there were these competitions,” she said in a recent phone interview.

“These girls were Polish, and in Poland these competitions are really a big thing because there’s all this history of hitchhiking, Before the 1990s, they didn’t have a lot of cars, so people would hitchhike and give each other lifts, and then they would get some vouchers for bread or milk. And that’s how the state encouraged hitchhiking. We gave them a lift, and they told us some stories. I was also inspired by the film ‘Thelma and Louise.”

She noted Serbia was a crossroads in Europe, an entry point for immigrants trying to get to western Europe. Tourism is another theme in the show, with characters trying to find a different life, a better life or just achieve a safe life.

“Everybody wants to escape from somewhere and then they all meet,” Brdar said.

Darcy Rose, left, and Helen T. Clark rehearse for the Cherry Arts production of “Rule of Thumb.”(Photo: Provided)

Company member Beth F. Milles is directing the show.

“The minute I found the play, I just loved it — it brings together so many things that I appreciate about theater,” Milles said. “The way language can create an image in a moment, and then wipe it away. I think Iva is such a spirited, smart writer, and there’s such beauty and at the same time a kind of romantic sadness at the heart of the play. And yet it’s buoyed by these young travelers who come at it with this energy and optimism.”

The cast includes Helen T. Clark and Darcy Rose in the lead roles, along with Lawrence Bierria, Jeff Guyton, Craig McDonald, Sarah Chalmers Simmons and Jacob White.

Brdar’s sister, writer and translator Ana Brdar, supplied the English translation for the play.

“It was really good, because she knows me and it’s quite easy for her to understand both the language and the references,” Brdar said. “It was an interesting experience for both of us.”

Brdar said she wanted to avoid western and eastern European stereotypes and tell a specific story through the hitchhiking experience.

“Both of our societies have some sort of problems, but I wanted to then go beyond the stereotypical thoughts that we have when we say ‘east’ or ‘west’ in Europe,” she said. “This play is a connection between those two in overcoming some of the differences.”

Milles is excited about presenting the world premiere of “Rule of Thumb.”

“A lot of time when that happens, the playwright is just learning what the play is, too,” she said. “They have instincts and images and it comes from something. But really, until the actors grapple with it and the audience sees it, I don’t think you know exactly what it wants to be. So we have this great opportunity to be in conversation with Iva about what it could be, and that will help formulate whatever next versions occur.”